Water sampler device



Jan. 13, 1970 Filed July 17,

S. J. NISKIN WATER SAMPLER DEVICE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN l E N TOR SHALE J.N|SK|N Jan. 13, 1970 s. J. NlSKlN 3,489,012

WATER SAMPLER DEVICE Filed July 17, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VE N 70/? SH QLE J. NISKIN Jan. 13, 1970 5. J. NISKIN 3,489,012

WATER SAMPLER DEVI GE Filed July 17, 1967 V 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 SHALE J. NIS

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AW/9m United States Patent 3,489,012 WATER SAMPLER DEVICE Shale J. Niskin, 9400 SW. 63rd Court, Miami, Fla. 33156 Filed July 17, 1967, Ser. No. 653,768 Int. Cl. G01n 1/10; F16h /40 US. Cl. 73--425.4 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention is directed to a water sampler device for collecting samples of water from desired depths of ocean or any body of water.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a compact device for collecting samples of water at desired depths of the ocean or sea in a rigid or plastic container.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a water sampler device with a cylindrical holder about which a plurality of open ended bottles are mounted whereby at desired depths, the bottles are stoppered to trap the water collected at those depths.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a water sampler device which is simple in construction and operation, relatively inexpensive in cost and most efiective to collect water samples at desired depths in the ocean or sea.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a water sampler device which requires very little time and effort to prepare the device for taking water samples in an ocean or sea and upon lowering the device in the ocean, the samples are taken quickly and efficiently during the lowering of the Water sampler at any desired depth in the ocean.

With these and other objects in view, the invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawings but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a ship at sea illustrating the use of my water sampler for collecting samples of water at desired depths thereof.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of my water sampler device with the bottles mounted thereon shown by dotted lines.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective similar to FIG URE 2 showing only one bottle mounted thereon.

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of my water sampler device taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view.

FIGURES 6 and 7 are cross sectional views taken along the lines 6-6 and 77 respectively of FIGURE 4.

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FIGURE 8 is a top plan view of the power cable fastening device.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view thereof.

Referring to the drawings wherein like numerals are used to designate similar parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 refers to my water sampling device which consists generally of a holder 15 on which a plurality of open ended sampler bottles 16 are mounted, and a lowering power cable 11 connected thereto so that as certain depths are reached the device is triggered to cap both ends of the sampler bottles and contain the sample of water in the bottle. When the device 10 is brought back up to the surface of the water, the device 10 will have mounted thereon a plurality of sealed bottles 16 containing samples of water from known and preselected depths. As best shown by FIGURE 1, there is shown graphically, my sampler device 10 being lowered to the bottom of a sea by the power cable 11 which is secured to the device 10 by fastening members F, the power cable 11 extending beyond the device 10 having an anchor 12 secured to the end of the power cable 11. Along the center of the power cable 11 there extends an insulated electrical conductor 13 which projects beyond the end of the power cable 11 upwardly to the lower end of the holder 15 where it is electrically connected to a connector 17 secured to the holder 15.

Each of the bottles 16 consists of a hollow cylindrical body portion 18 at one end of which is an air vent 19 with a closure cap 20 threadedly mounted thereon. At the lower end of the cylindrical wall 18 is a pet cock 21 for drawing off the water contained in the bottle 16. At the ends of the bottle 16 are stoppers or plugs 23 and 24 connected together by a resilient rope 25 which extends through the bottle 16 and yieldingly pull on the plugs 23, 24 to seat themselves at the ends of the bottle 16. The plugs 23, 24 are maintained in their unseated position as shown by FIGURE 2 by lines 26 and 27 secured at one end of the plugs 23 and 24 respectively. The other end of the line 26 and 27 are formed into loops or rings 28, 29 respectively. The loop 28 is engaged by the line 27 which extends therethrough while loop 29 is engaged by a pin 30 to maintain the plugs 23 and 24 in an unseated position as is explained in detail hereinafter. The bottles 16 are removably mounted on the holder 15 by a pair of wedge shaped brackets 31 secured to the side wall of the container 18 and slidably mounted in the slotted portions 32 formed along the periphery of headers or plate members 33 and 34 of the holder 15. The upper plate member 33 is provided with a cavity 36 extending through its lower surface.

Referring to FIGURES 4 and 7 in particular, the bottle holder 15 is seen to consist of the plate members 33 and 34 bolted to the ends of a solid cylindrical member 35 provided with an enlarged cavity 46 extending through the lower surface of the member 35 and a plurality of smaller cavities 37 and 38, 38, 38 extending through the upper surface of the cylindrical member 35. The cavity 37 is axially disposed with relation to the cylindrical member 35 while the cavities 38 are smaller in size, symmetrically disposed about the cavity 37 and connected to the cavity 37 by ducts 39.

Positioned in the cavity 37 is an electric step motor 40 having a shaft 41 which extends through a bore 42 in a cover plate 43 that is secured to the top of the cylindrical member 35 with appropriately placed O-rings for sealing the cavity 37. The shaft 41 terminates above the plate member 33 extending through a bore 44 therein to permit an operator to observe visually the operation of the motor 40. The cover plate 43 is provided with an axially disposed cavity 47 at its upper surface in which is a cam plate 48 keyed to the motor shaft 41 so as to turn with the motor 40. On the upper surface of the cam plate 48 adjacent the periphery thereof is a wedge shaped cam 49 whose function is explained in detail hereinafter.

The cavities 37 and 38 are normally filled with oil and are sealed against contamination by sea water by pistons 50 which is slidably mounted in the cylindrical cavities 38. The piston discs 50 are exposed to the sea water when the device has been submerged for the purpose of taking samples of sea water and thereby equalize the sea pressure with that within the cavity 37 so that the motor is subjected to an equalized pressure on all sides. The piston discs are provided with a centrally threaded bore 51 for bleeding air therethrough and a threaded member 52 for sealing the air bleed 51 for normal operation.

Both of the plate members 33 and 34 are provided with a plurality of slotted portions 32 at their periphery for receiving the brackets 31 of the bottles 16. The number of slotted portions 32 determine the number of bottles 16 to be mounted thereon. The bottom plate member 34 has a pin 52 at each of the slotted portions 32 for supporting the lower brackets 31 of the bottles 16 and thereby prevent the bottles 16 from slipping therethrough. The upper bracket 31 of the bottles 16 are prevented from sliding upwardly in the slotted portions 32 by a retainer ring 53 secured to the upper surface of the plate member'33 by bolts 54 received in elongated slots 55 that permit rotational movement of the retainer ring 53. The retainer ring 53 is provided with a plurality of finger portions 56 which extend over the edge of the slotted portions 32. The finger portions 56 engage the upper surface of the upper brackets 31 of the bottles 16 to retain the bottles 16 in position on the holder 15. When it is desired to remove the bottles 16 from the holder 15, the bolts 54 are loosened and the retainer ring 53 is rotated to slide the finger portions 56 away from the slotted portions 56 to the position shown by FIGURE 5 whereby the bottles 16 can be slid off the holder 15.

The upper plate member 33 is provided with a plurality of elongated but separated slots 57 formed on an arc of a circle equidistant from the central bore 44. In addition to the slots 57, there is a plurality of bores 58 on the upper plate member 33, the bores 58 being equal in number and in radial alignment with the slots 57 and slotted portions 56. Positioned in each of the bores 58 is a handle 59 extending into the cavity 36 and having its lower end secured to a cam follower head portion 60 which is provided with a nose portion 61 and a shoulder 62. The shoulders 62 normally engage a peripheral shoulder 63 on the cover plate member 43. The pin 30 that is fastened at one end to the head portion 60 extends through a bore 64 which connects the slots 57 with the cavity 36. A coil spring 65 encircles each of the pins 30 and extend between the outer wall of the cavity 36 and the head portion 60 to yieldingly maintain the shoulders 62 in contact relation with the peripheral shoulder 63 and the ends of the pins 30 in contact relation with the outer surfaces of the slots 57. When the motor 40 has been energized and the cam plate 48 rotated, the cam 49 will slide under the nose 61 of the cam follower head 60 to slide the latter upwardly carrying along the shoulder 62 until the shoulder 62 leaves the peripheral shoulder 63. The coil spring 65 then is free to slide the pin 30 radially until the handle 59 engages the inner surface of the slot 58 and the outer end of the pin 30 is spaced from the outer surface of the slot 57.

Within the cavity 46 is a battery 66 connected by insulated conductors 67 to a connector 68 that extends through a bore 69 into one of the cavities 38. The connector 68 is joined by insulated conductors 70 which extend to the motor 40. A relay 71 within the cavity 46 is connected by conductors 72 to the battery having a ground connection 73 and a hot line 74 extending from a terminal 75 that extends through a bore 76 in the lower plate memher 34 where a connector 17 is electrically connected thereto.

It can be seen as a result of the above construction upon each closing of the circuit by an operator on board ship, electricity is conveyed down the conductor 11 which is axially disposed within the lowering cable 13 to actuate the relay 71 which in turn closes the circuit between the battery 66 and the motor 40 for a sufficient period of time to rotate the cam plate 48 and advance the cam 49 approximately 35 in my sampler 10 which contains ten bottles 16.

The sampler 10 is removably fastened to the cable 11 by means of fasteners P which are welded or otherwise secured to the plate members 33 and 34 and consist of an L-shaped body portion having leg portions 76 and 77 at right angles to each other. See FIGURES 8 and 9. Pivotally mounted as at 78 to the leg portion 76 is an oval shaped cam-like member 79 with an L-shaped bolt 80 pivoted at the opposite end portion of the member 79. The shank portion 81 of the L-shaped bolt 80 is slotted on its periphery as at 81 for receiving a set screw 82 in order to prevent the bolt 80 from parting from the cam member 79. The leg portion 77 is grooved as at 83 along its inner surface for receiving the cable 11 and slotted as at 84 for receiving the bolt 84. A washer 85 and wing nut 86 mounted on the bolt 80 and tightened against the leg portion 77 will cause the cam member 79 to pivot about the pivot bolt 78 and bear tightly against the cable 11 to secure the sampler 10 against sliding movement on the cable 11. The upper and lower plate members 33 and 34 are slotted as at 87 to receive the cable 11 and permit it to lie in close proximity to the cylinder 35.

In the normal operation of my water sampler device 10, the holder 15 is fastened to the cable 11 by means of the fasteners F in close proximity to the anchor or weight 12. The conductor 13 is then connected to the connector 17 and the motor shaft 41 rotated to its starting position. All of the bottles 16 are then slid into position in the slotted portions 32 and the retainer ring 53 rotated to lock the bottles 16 in position on the holder 15 between the pin 52 and the finger portions 56 of the retainer ring 53. At this time the plugs 24 are held in the closed position on the bottles 16 by means of the resilient member 25. The operator grasps the lines 26 and 27 forcing the plugs 23 and 24 away from each other and from their closed positions on the bottle 16. The loop 28 of the line 26 is threaded over the line 27 as shown by FIGURE 3 and the loop 29 is inserted into the appropriate slot 57. The operator now grasps the handle 59 of the cam follower head 60 and pulls outwardly and pushes downwardly at the same time causing the head 60 and pin 30 to slide radially away from the motor shaft 41. As the pin 30 is received by the loop 29 it engages the outer wall of the slot 57 to prevent the loop 29 from sliding out of the slot 57. Simultaneously, the shoulder 62 of the cam follower 60 engages the peripheral shoulder 62. As long as the loop remains engaged by the pin 30 in the slot 57, the plugs 23 and 24 will remain in their open position as shown by FIGURE 3. When all of the bottles 16 has been secured to the holder 15 in their open position, the device 10 is ready to be placed overboard for the taking of samples of water.

The water sampler 10 is now placed overboard and allowed to be lowered in the water. With the bottles 16 in their open position, water will flow through the bottles 16 and when the desired depth in the sea has been reached, the circuit is closed on shipboard causing electrical energy to flow through the conductor 13 to the relay 71 which in turn will cause the battery 66 to energize the motor 40 to effect a 35 degree rotation of the motor shaft 41. As the motor shaft rotates 35 degrees the cam 49 will engage the nose 61 of one of the cam follower heads 60 to cause the shoulder 62 to slide above the peripheral shoulder 63 and the coil spring 65 to force the pin 64 away from the outside wall of the slot 57 and release the loop 29. The lines 26 and 27 are now released causing the resilient member 25 to bring the plugs 23 and 24 to their closed positions thereby trapping the water then contained in the bottle 16.

This procedure is continued at each depth of water it is desired to obtain a sample until all of the bottles 16 have been sealed, The water sampler is then brought up to the deck of the ship and the bottles 16 are removed from the holder and appropriately marked and identified. Other empty bottles 16 are then placed on the holder 15 for obtaining more samples of water.

Although the holder 15 is shown having positions for ten bottles, it is obvious that the holder 15 may be constructed for any desired number of bottles. Also, in the event it is desired to obtain more samples of water than can be obtained by the use of water sampler device 10, a plurality of water sampler 10 may be fastened to a single cable 11 with the electrical system connected in series so one sampler 10 will go into operation as the others completed taking samples. This system is particularly adaptable to deep water in the ocean and where samples at small distances apart are desired.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A holder for a water sampler device comprising an elongated body portion, a plate member secured to each end of said body portion, means mounted at side portions of said holder for releasably securing water collecting containers to said holder, cable fastening means mounted on said holder for securing said holder to a lowering cable, a step motor mounted in said body portion, said motor having a shaft, a cam plate mounted on said shaft, a cam mounted on said cam plate, one of said plate members having a plurality of slots, a pin extending into one of said slots at one end and abutting against a wall of said slot, said pin having a nose portion at the other end and a shoulder adjacent said nose portion, shoulder means mounted in proximity to said cam plate, spring means urging said shoulder of said pin into engagement with said shoulder means and said one end of said pin in abutting relation with said wall, means connecting said containers and said pin and power operated means for operating said step motor for actuating said pin and releasing said connecting means to permit said container to collect water.

2. A Water sampler device comprising a holder, said holder having a substantially cylindrical body member, a plate member secured at each end of said body member, said plate members having slotted portions about their periphery for receiving receptacles therein, means mounted at said slotted portions for releasably securing said receptacles to said holder, said receptacles having an axially disposed chamber open at each end for the flow of water therethrough, plug means positioned adjacent to said open ends of said receptacles, means yieldingly urging said plug means to engage said open ends and seal said receptacles, said yielding means having an elongated resilient member extending through said receptacle and having the ends secured to said plug means, a plurality of movable pins substantially radially disposed about one of said plate members, an axially disposed cam plate, a cam mounted on said cam plate, said pins each having a shoulder and a nose portion engageable by said cam, a plurality of lanyards having end portions, one of said end portions of each of said lanyards being operatively connected to said plugs with the other ends operatively connected to said pins and restraining said yielding means, spring means urging said shoulder into engagement and said pin out of cooperative engagement with said other ends of said lanyards when said cam engages said nose of said pin whereby said plug means are released and said receptacles are sealed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,314,372 3/1943 Spilhaus 73-4'25.4 2,391,978 1/1946 Kahl 73-4254 3,242,740 3/ 1966 Niskin 73425 .4 3,339,417 9/1967 Richard 73425.4

LOUIS R. PRINCE, Primary Examiner HARRY C. POST III, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 24123; 742 

